The Opelousas courier., 1887-09-10
FALL OF The ALAMO.
An Eye Witness Tells The Story
of a Bloody Fight.
The Memorable Struggle For
Texan Independence Recalled.

! death. Not one had the Alamo"
In this terse and expressive way som
: southern writer conclude a graphic az
count of one themost thrilling episodes
: American history-the siege of the Ala
mo.
: Colonel r. L. Crompton, of Roxbury
] Mass, is probably the only Twin
/, American who was an only living ey
witness of that fearful struggle, an
from him were obtained the facts OF
which this article is founded. He lef
his Massachusetts home in the winter O
1884, to hunt fortune in the west. HI
started for Lexington, Kentucky, but
fell in with a band bound for Texas to
join Colonel Travis, then near San An
tonic dc Bexar. He decided to cast hi
lot in the struggle for Texan independ
ence. The party was made up largely
of young and fiery Kentuckians anC
Tennesseans, some of them hardly more
than boys. Many exciting incidents
marked their journey, but they finally
reached the great Lone Star state.
Young Crompton at once enlisted under
Colonel Milan.
GAS soon as we had gathered sufi-
Gent strength" he said, in telling the
rest OF the story, 1--WE attacked the Mex
lean forces in San Antonio. They far
outnumbered us and a desperate struggle
ensued. For days we fought in the
streets and among the adobe houses, each
one of which was a miniature fortress.
With picks and spades we dug our way
through the walls from house to house.
The fight for the Vereminda house was
fierce and bloody, but at last we drove
the Mexicans out and took possession.
Our triumph was soon turned to
mourning. On that very day, Milan,
our beloved leader, fell dead, shot by a
Mexican who lay behind a wall OF the
opposite side of the San Attonio river.
We did not retain the house long, as the
advance of Santa Anna compelled us to
Withdraw, leaving Travis with less than
$50 men to garrison the place.
Il shall never forget the day when
young Maverick dashed into our camp
with the news that Travis, refusing to
retreat, was shut up in the Alamo and
surrounded by an overwhelming force.
While Houston was so weak he could
not come to the rescue.
Il started off to join the imprisoned
band. 1t was a hopeless undertaking, as
| o 20 found when / got a bullet in me.
[ crawled away in the darkness. A
Mexican whom | had befriended during
occupation of the city generously
agreed to conceal me in his house. A
narrow window commanded an excellent
view of one front of the Alamo wall,
and from this point / could see nearly
all of that memorable struggle.
ebay after day the Mexican fire was
kept up, and time after time were their
storming columns hurled against the old
church wall, which formed the Texan
rampant. But nothing could disturb the
defenders. At the close of each day the
Lone Star flag foated as proudly and,
apparently, as securely as ever from the
roof of the mission. The Mexican losses
were fearful. Their clumsy ~escopetas
were no match for the long Hawkins's
rifles. Hundreds fell every day, but
they were little missed from that over
Whelming host, while every man of the
who died was an irreparable
Ioss. The line along the wall grew very
hin. Still there was no thought of sur
'ender. At length, when death and
Wounds had reduced the poor handful to
lalf It's original numbers, the Mexicans
a Judgment on an undefended
art of the wall. Instantly they poured
n by hundreds.
although there was now no hone of
uceess the brave Texans fought as stead
" and as firmly as on the first day of
siege. From room to room went
he fight. The puny Mexicans learned
y bitter experience the deadly power of
knives and dubbed rifles in the
tands of desperate Americans. But
endurance has its limits. At
ength Santa Anna was master of the
Alamo, but not until the last American
" cold in death. From my window I :
ould hear the shouts and yells and see
ne struggling figures. {
when all was over / begged my host I
go into the Alamo and brine me t
ews of all that had occurred. He came
ack IN an hour or two, and said that '
1ch a shambles never had been seen c
The dead were heaped in wild /
infusion throughout the building. The '
ltters fairly ran with blood. In a 15om b
. the ground floor was the corpse of t
OIL. Bowie. He had been butchered C
pom his sick bed. Not far from him Ii
as found the brave and eccentric Dayy c
rocket. But the most impressive sight t
as in q small room in the upper story, Il
here the gallant Travis lay, a bullet il
lie In his forehead. StreWn around 7
Z
m were the corpsesof fifteen Mexicans, n
no had died by his hand. Of the Tex
s not one survived, but they did not